Fremont River Valley, South Caineville Mesa, Utah

Cottonwood trees line the banks of the Fremont River below the gullied slopes of South Caineville Mesa a few miles east of Capitol Reef National Park. The gullied slopes of the mesa were caused by erosion of the very soft Blue Gate Shale formation. This material crumbles in the hand and is easily washed away during the late-summer monsoon season as occasional thunderstorms unleash downpours on these slopes. Due to this erosive process and the expansive clays in this formation, few plants can get a foothold. Hidden in a gully behind the cottonwood trees and thus out of view in this photograph, the Fremont River originates high on Fish Lake Plateau west of here before it carves into the Navajo, Kayenta and Windgate sandstones of Capitol Reef National Park and then out into these wide valleys.